NUTLEY — Hackensack Meridian Health officially opened its Institute for Multiple Myeloma on Monday evening at the site that was once the Hoffmann-La Roche campus.

Not only will the institute support groundbreaking research to enhance treatment of a rare cancer, it is also the first of a three institutes at the Nutley-Clifton campus that will encompass the Hackensack Meridian's Center for Discovery and Innovation.

It is hoped that this effort will provide the spark to make it a hub for research in the medical field and create hundreds of scientific jobs for North Jerseyans.

Providing a cure

Dr. David Siegel, founding director of the Institute, noted that when he first began treating multiple myeloma for the University of Arkansas in the 1990s, the afflicted had a life expectancy of 18 months.

According to the American Cancer Society, multiple myeloma is a cancer of plasma cells. Normal plasma cells are found in the bone marrow and are an important part of the immune system.

Myeloma causes the destruction of bone marrow. ACS estimates that about 30,000 cases will be diagnosed this year.

Siegel, with colleagues like Dr. André Goy, chairman and executive director, division chief of lymphoma, at Hackensack's John Theurer Cancer Center, said they aim "to put a foot on the neck of myeloma" and eradicate the disease once and for all.

Goy said the state-of-the-art facility that is coming on line at the Institute will allow researchers through the use of big data analytics and their own clinical experience to continue to improve patients' outcomes.

"The Institute will continue to expand our mission for precision medicine in cancer, including identifying the best sequence of care for each patient,” Goy said.

Part of the John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center, HUMC has built one of the world’s largest multiple myeloma programs, with more than 2,000 patients on active therapy, officials said.

Hackensack Meridan members in one of the new labs where research into finding a cure for multiple myeloma will take place.(Photo11: Photo by Matt Fagan/NorthJersey.com)

“This new center takes us a quantum leap forward in the fight against multiple myeloma and related illnesses,’’ said Robert C. Garrett, co-CEO of Hackensack Meridian Health. “This helps us achieve something that has been elusive – curing significant numbers of patients.’’

“As one of the largest cohorts of patients, our team at John Theurer Cancer Center ... has built one of the best multiple myeloma programs in the world and has been involved in the most novel therapy developments for multiple myeloma over the last two decades,” added Goy.

Moreover, Dr. Andrew Pecora, chief innovation officer at Hackensack Meridian Health, said the research into the treatment of blood dieseases has applications in treating cancers and other diseases beyond the relatively narrow scope of treating myeloma.

"It has a ripple effect," Pecora told audience members Monday.

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Other benefits

The Center for Discovery and Innovation will open two additional centers – the Institute for Regenerative Medicine, which will become a leader in the emerging field of tissue-based therapy and the Institute for Cancer and Infectious Diseases, officials said.

Pecora noted that when all three institutes are up and running, the 250,000-square-foot facility will be brimming with scientific researchers and support staff providing northern New Jersey with hundreds of good jobs.

The HUMC campus in Nutley and Clifton is also home to the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine at Seton Hall University, which welcomed its first class last month.

It is part of larger project by ON3, which bought the 116-acre campus shortly after Roche began vacating the site in 2012.

Since then, in addition to Hackensack Meridian's takeover, ON3 has attracted other technological firms such a Quest Diagnotics and Modern Meadow. It is also hoped to attract developers to build a hotel/conference center on the portion of the property adjacent to Route 3.